About patient confidentiality

For elkpark,The reason I'd rather change my physician and not jeopardize her job is,when she was 16yrs. old, she was with our family when my cousin,her best friend died a horrible death from a respatory illness.This was one of the reasons she became a nurse.I know she must be aware of the law,she's been a R.N. for almost 20years.She is not incompetent and I have never herd her talk about any of her patients.My mother was a nurse 40+yrs.She did everything from riding with the squad,O.R.,to director of nursing.My brother and sister were C.N.A.'s also.I never asked,but thought confidentiality was hospital policy,not law.My mother would never talk about patients,the same with my brother and sister.Someone told me recently, that you had to sign something in your record for it to be kept secret.By the way,thanks for the site!I guess what I'm saying is,as perfect as I'd like to think she is,she is only human and just made a mistake.I can live with the inconvenience she's caused me.I will make sure my new physician knows how I feel about confidentiality!I thought I would add this,it's from the last part of my mother's class of 1953 Nurse's Pledge.It says"I pledge myself to keep sacred and inviolable whatever matters of an intmate nature may come to my knowledge in the course of duty"